BEAUTY: Packaging, Packaging, Packaging

ALL PRODUCTS TELL YOU almost everything about themselves from a safe distance–usually when they’re still wrapped and in their original packaging. Whether it is a coffeemaker or iPhone case of which we speak, it is clear that brands work hard to make their product distinctions crystal-clear to the consumer upon first sight.

Pssst…#Boom

With the fragrance market as oversaturated as is, Amsterdam-based design house Viktor&Rolf has proven itself a genius at exacting results when it comes to package-based branding with its much-beloved Eau de Parfum, Flowerbomb.

Everything about Flowerbomb‘s packaging is a whimsical callback to the perfume’s name. Its box is asymmetrically ribboned and then sealed with a faux wax stamp intended to recall both the silhouette of flower petals and the lethal glamour of old-school spy envelopes. The bottle itself takes the shape of diamond-granite with a pull-off pin attached, as if spraying it will cause the most floral of explosions with notes of rose, patchouli, freesia, orchid and jasmine (It is, by the way, exactly an euphoric floral explosive–in my Top 3 Scents right next to Yves Saint Laurent’s Black Opium and Versace’s Bright Crystal Absolu).

The Flowerbomb, after being introduced over a decade ago and despite the steep price tag of $115 for just an 1.7 oz. bottle, was still flying off shelves and onto the top 5 best-selling women’s perfumes in 2015.

If you like the look of Flowerbomb, be sure to check out its musk-oriented male counterpart, Spicebomb(the pin on Spicebomb, for further authenticity, actually needs to pulled off as on an actual grenade before you can spray it):

Pretty sick. Both Flowerbomb and Spicebomb make great “For Him and Her” gifts for those dearest in your lives. The scents are universally appealing and the packaging is endearingly bold and witty.